PRODUCERS OF BIG BUDGET FILMS
List activity
9.4K views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
23 people
- Producer
- Music Department
- Writer
Jerry Bruckheimer is a film and television producer born on September 21, 1943 in Detroit. He graduated from high school in 1961 before it was moving to Arizona. He started his career in 1968 to produce television commercials and advertising for the firm BBD&O in New York.
He left the commercial industry, and branched out into film production and served as associate producer for Dick Richards on the films The Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972) and Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1975). He started out his production company Jerry Bruckheimer & Associates and then served as producer on the following two films Farewell, My Lovely (1975) and March or Die (1977) before the duo broke up.
He then became an independent producer, serving his job on his films American Gigolo (1980), Defiance (1980), Thief (1981), Cat People (1982) and Young Doctors in Love (1982) throughout the early 1980s, for one of their major studios.
In 1979, Don Simpson met Bruckheimer while working on "American Gigolo" for Paramount. In 1982, Simpson left Paramount Pictures to start out its own independent company with a deal at Paramount, and weeks later, Simpson's production services were merged with Bruckheimer's. During his lifetime, he produced films in the 80s and 90s for Paramount like Flashdance (1983), Thief of Hearts (1984), Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and its sequel Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Top Gun (1986) and Days of Thunder (1990), most of them met with success.
After the minor failure of "Days of Thunder", Simpson and Bruckheimer severed its ties with Paramount, and signed a deal with The Walt Disney Studios. In the mid 90s, both Simpson and Bruckheimer produced The Ref (1994), Bad Boys (1995), Crimson Tide (1995), Dangerous Minds (1995) and The Rock (1996). In 1995, Simpson and Bruckheimer terminated its relationship, and the next year Simpson died.
Bruckheimer expanded its activity on television with a deal at Touchstone Television. He produced two shows Dangerous Minds (1996) for ABC and Soldier of Fortune, Inc. (1997) for Rysher Entertainment and TV affiliates and two telepics Max Q (1998) and Swing Vote (1999), both for ABC.
The next few Bruckheimer productions after Simpson died in the late 90s and the early 2000s were Con Air (1997), Armageddon (1998), Enemy of the State (1998), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) and Coyote Ugly (2000). In 1998, he established Technical Black Films to produce the film Remember the Titans (2000). In 1999, his Bruckheimer production company signed a deal with Ridley Scott and Tony Scott's Scott Free Productions to produce films over a two year period.
In 2000, Bruckheimer hit big with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000). The success of the show led to spinoffs CSI: Miami (2002), CSI: NY (2004) and CSI: Cyber (2015). He followed the franchise up with the reality show The Amazing Race (2001), of which it is also an success made Bruckheimer a major producer for the CBS network. In 2001, he signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television to produce TV shows. He followed up his TV career with Without a Trace (2002) and Cold Case (2003).
In 2001, he produced two war films Pearl Harbor (2001) and Black Hawk Down (2001). The former received negative critical reaction, and the latter gained them critical acclaim. He followed up in 2002 with Bad Company (2002). Throughout the 2000s, Bruckheimer was an active entertainment producer, working on the films Kangaroo Jack (2003), Veronica Guerin (2003), King Arthur (2004), Glory Road (2006), Deja Vu (2006), Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) and G-Force (2009) for Disney Studios, and the TV shows Profiles from the Front Line (2003), Skin (2003), E-Ring (2005), Just Legal (2005), Close to Home (2005), Justice (2006), Eleventh Hour (2008), Dark Blue (2009) and The Forgotten (2009).
He is the creative force for franchise films. In 2003, he made a sequel to his "Bad Boys", Bad Boys II (2003) and Bad Boys for Life (2020), and he launched the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, starting with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), and spawning sequels like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) and the "National Treasure" franchise, comprising of two films National Treasure (2004) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007).
In 2007, he had to partner with MTV to create a game studio, and joined the ZeniMax board of directors. In 2009, he launched Jerry Bruckheimer Games, and by 2011 rumored to be worked on three titles, before it was shut down in 2013.
By the 2010s, he was in declining force, and his films Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010), The Lone Ranger (2013), 12 Strong (2018) and Gemini Man (2019) are turned out to be box office disappointments, and his TV shows Miami Medical (2010), Chase (2010), The Whole Truth (2010), Hostages (2013), Training Day (2017) and Council of Dads (2020) turned out to be failures after one season.
In 2013, he signed a deal with Paramount Pictures to produce follow-up films to "Top Gun" and "Beverly Hills Cop" and their deal with Disney ended. Three years later, he terminated its deal with Warner Bros. Television and a year later signed with CBS Television Studios. His minor box office success rolled in with Deliver Us from Evil (2014). His only big TV hits came in from the decade were Lucifer (2016) and L.A.'s Finest (2019).
Bruckheimer was named as one of the investors of a proposed sports arena in Las Vegas, and had been rumored to be the leading choice by the National Hockey League (NHL) to own an expansion hockey team that would play in the arena. Bruckheimer was also named as one of the investors of a proposed Seattle-based NHL expansion team whose application was submitted in early 2018. The NHL Board of Governors voted to approve the team, named the Seattle Kraken, on December 4, 2018, which will start play in the 2021-22 season. Jerry Bruckheimer was part of an investment group that also included Tim Leiweke (Oak View Group) and David Bonderman (minority owner NBA's Boston Celtics).
He is currently on post-production on the sequel to his 1986 film "Top Gun", Top Gun: Maverick (2022) for Paramount Pictures.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, producer or writer since launching the summer blockbuster with Jaws (1975), and he has done more to define popular film-making since the mid-1970s than anyone else.
Steven Allan Spielberg was born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Leah Frances (Posner), a concert pianist and restaurateur, and Arnold Spielberg, an electrical engineer who worked in computer development. His parents were both born to Russian Jewish immigrant families. Steven spent his younger years in Haddon Township, New Jersey, Phoenix, Arizona, and later Saratoga, California. He went to California State University Long Beach, but dropped out to pursue his entertainment career. Among his early directing efforts were Battle Squad (1961), which combined World War II footage with footage of an airplane on the ground that he makes you believe is moving. He also directed Escape to Nowhere (1961), which featured children as World War Two soldiers, including his sister Anne Spielberg, and The Last Gun (1959), a western. All of these were short films. The next couple of years, Spielberg directed a couple of movies that would portend his future career in movies. In 1964, he directed Firelight (1964), a movie about aliens invading a small town. In 1967, he directed Slipstream (1967), which was unfinished. However, in 1968, he directed Amblin' (1968), which featured the desert prominently, and not the first of his movies in which the desert would feature. Amblin' also became the name of his production company, which turned out such classics as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg had a unique and classic early directing project, Duel (1971), with Dennis Weaver. In the early 1970s, Spielberg was working on TV, directing among others such series as Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1969), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969) and Murder by the Book (1971). All of his work in television and short films, as well as his directing projects, were just a hint of the wellspring of talent that would dazzle audiences all over the world.
Spielberg's first major directorial effort was The Sugarland Express (1974), with Goldie Hawn, a film that marked him as a rising star. It was his next effort, however, that made him an international superstar among directors: Jaws (1975). This classic shark attack tale started the tradition of the summer blockbuster or, at least, he was credited with starting the tradition. His next film was the classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), a unique and original UFO story that remains a classic. In 1978, Spielberg produced his first film, the forgettable I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), and followed that effort with Used Cars (1980), a critically acclaimed, but mostly forgotten, Kurt Russell/Jack Warden comedy about devious used-car dealers. Spielberg hit gold yet one more time with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), with Harrison Ford taking the part of Indiana Jones. Spielberg produced and directed two films in 1982. The first was Poltergeist (1982), but the highest-grossing movie of all time up to that point was the alien story E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg also helped pioneer the practice of product placement. The concept, while not uncommon, was still relatively low-key when Spielberg raised the practice to almost an art form with his famous (or infamous) placement of Reese's Pieces in "E.T." Spielberg was also one of the pioneers of the big-grossing special-effects movies, like "E.T." and "Close Encounters", where a very strong emphasis on special effects was placed for the first time on such a huge scale. In 1984, Spielberg followed up "Raiders" with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which was a commercial success but did not receive the critical acclaim of its predecessor. As a producer, Spielberg took on many projects in the 1980s, such as The Goonies (1985), and was the brains behind the little monsters in Gremlins (1984). He also produced the cartoon An American Tail (1986), a quaint little animated classic. His biggest effort as producer in 1985, however, was the blockbuster Back to the Future (1985), which made Michael J. Fox an instant superstar. As director, Spielberg took on the book The Color Purple (1985), with Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, with great success. In the latter half of the 1980s, he also directed Empire of the Sun (1987), a mixed success for the occasionally erratic Spielberg. Success would not escape him for long, though.
The late 1980s found Spielberg's projects at the center of pop-culture yet again. In 1988, he produced the landmark animation/live-action film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). The next year proved to be another big one for Spielberg, as he produced and directed Always (1989) as well as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Back to the Future Part II (1989). All three of the films were box-office and critical successes. Also, in 1989, he produced the little known comedy-drama Dad (1989), with Jack Lemmon and Ted Danson, which got mostly mixed results. Spielberg has also had an affinity for animation and has been a strong voice in animation in the 1990s. Aside from producing the landmark "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", he produced the animated series Tiny Toon Adventures (1990), Animaniacs (1993), Pinky and the Brain (1995), Freakazoid! (1995), Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain (1998), Family Dog (1993) and Toonsylvania (1998). Spielberg also produced other cartoons such as The Land Before Time (1988), We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), Casper (1995) (the live action version) as well as the live-action version of The Flintstones (1994), where he was credited as "Steven Spielrock". Spielberg also produced many Roger Rabbit short cartoons, and many Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs and Tiny Toons specials. Spielberg was very active in the early 1990s, as he directed Hook (1991) and produced such films as the cute fantasy Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991). He also produced the unusual comedy thriller Arachnophobia (1990), Back to the Future Part III (1990) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). While these movies were big successes in their own right, they did not quite bring in the kind of box office or critical acclaim as previous efforts. In 1993, Spielberg directed Jurassic Park (1993), which for a short time held the record as the highest grossing movie of all time, but did not have the universal appeal of his previous efforts. Big box-office spectacles were not his only concern, though. He produced and directed Schindler's List (1993), a stirring film about the Holocaust. He won best director at the Oscars, and also got Best Picture. In the mid-90s, he helped found the production company DreamWorks, which was responsible for many box-office successes.
As a producer, he was very active in the late 90s, responsible for such films as The Mask of Zorro (1998), Men in Black (1997) and Deep Impact (1998). However, it was on the directing front that Spielberg was in top form. He directed and produced the epic Amistad (1997), a spectacular film that was shorted at the Oscars and in release due to the fact that its release date was moved around so much in late 1997. The next year, however, produced what many believe was one of the best films of his career: Saving Private Ryan (1998), a film about World War Two that is spectacular in almost every respect. It was stiffed at the Oscars, losing best picture to Shakespeare in Love (1998).
Spielberg produced a series of films, including Evolution (2001), The Haunting (1999) and Shrek (2001). he also produced two sequels to Jurassic Park (1993), which were financially but not particularly critical successes. In 2001, he produced a mini-series about World War Two that definitely *was* a financial and critical success: Band of Brothers (2001), a tale of an infantry company from its parachuting into France during the invasion to the Battle of the Bulge. Also in that year, Spielberg was back in the director's chair for A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), a movie with a message and a huge budget. It did reasonably at the box office and garnered varied reviews from critics.
Spielberg has been extremely active in films there are many other things he has done as well. He produced the short-lived TV series SeaQuest 2032 (1993), an anthology series entitled Amazing Stories (1985), created the video-game series "Medal of Honor" set during World War Two, and was a starting producer of ER (1994). Spielberg, if you haven't noticed, has a great interest in World War Two. He and Tom Hanks collaborated on Shooting War: World War II Combat Cameramen (2000), a documentary about World War II combat photographers, and he produced a documentary about the Holocaust called Eyes of the Holocaust (2000). With all of this to Spielberg's credit, it's no wonder that he's looked at as one of the greatest ever figures in entertainment.- Producer
- Additional Crew
Andy Vajna was born in Budapest. In 1956 at the age of 12, he fled from Hungary and with the support of Red Cross he made his way alone to Canada. Vajna launched his career in the entertainment industry with his purchase of motion picture theaters in the Far East. He founded Panasia Films Limited in Hong Kong in 1976. Vajna met with Mario Kassar at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, then he and Kassar formed Carolco. In 1982, Vajna was a founder and then president of the American Film Marketing Association. During that same year, Vajna and Kassar made their film production debut. In December 1989, Vajna sold all his interest in Carolco and formed Cinergi Productions, Inc. to engage in the financing, development, production and distribution of major event motion pictures. As part of its business plan, Cinergi has formed an alliance with The Walt Disney Company for distribution of Cinergi motion pictures in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Vajna has never forgotten his Hungarian roots and always tried to help the Hungarian film industry. He also actively participated in the distribution of Motion Pictures in Hungary eventually having a 70% share of the Hungarian box office. In 1989 Vajna founded InterCom that has become a market leader and a distributor of many Hollywood studios, including 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Disney and MGM. In 2002 he founded Digic Pictures in Hungary which is a high-end animation studio. Since 2011 Andrew G. Vajna has been working as Government Commissioner in charge of the Hungarian film industry. In the same year he conceived Hungarian National Film Fund with the mission to contribute to the production of Hungarian films or co-productions that provide art and entertainment for moviegoers and bring significant success both domestically and on an international level. Under the Vajna era Hungarian movies financed by the Hungarian National Film Fund won altogether more than 130 international awards (including a Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Language Film) while the number of foreign films produced in Hungary increased significantly.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
At 18 years old, Mario Kassar made his first film. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Los Angeles in the mid 1970s to begin his career as filmmakers. Kassar quickly became known as a creative producer in the L.A. motion pictures industry; also noted as one of the inventors of the foreign market and co-pro financing.
Kassar's early efforts as an independent filmmaker began with small scale release films such as "The Amateur" and "Victory" while starting Carolco International, his own independent theatrical motion picture distribution company in 1976. Kassar began releasing a slew of independent features and first hit with the release of the Rambo franchise First Blood (1982) starring Syllvester Stallone, which was a major motion picture in 1982. Stallone was rumored to have signed a 10 picture deal with Carolco allowing the sequel "First Blood: Rambo II".
Total Recall (1990) and The "Terminator" franchise are the most memorable pictures Kassar was associated with. Both stories starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, and were produced through Carolco (excluding Part One of Terminator which was financed by Orion).
Other Carolco productions included the under-water thriller "DeepStar Six", the erotic suspenseful "Basic Instinct", "Cliffhanger" - a Stallone vehicle also a hit in 1993, the success of the Roland Emmerich sci-fi film "Stargate" established a cable series in 1997 entitled Stargate SG-1 (1997) starring Richard Dean Anderson. Worth mentioning is "Chaplin" with Robert Downey Jr. playing the life of legendary actor Charlie Chaplin.
Kassar re-opened a production company in 2002 called C-2 Pictures to produce "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," which was one of the most expensive films that year. The 2003 release allowed a window for the franchise to gain new-life.
Kassar is still making pictures, however is very family oriented and enjoys committing his time to his real-life affairs. Kassar will be most remembered for helping to create a successful business model for the international market. With the efforts of other pioneers like Dino De Laurentiis, Kassar paved the way for Hollywood foreign sales and exhibition -- his effort during the 1980s is now the 'industry standard' in today's Studio system.
His films have generated more than $3 billion dollars worldwide.- Producer
- Director
- Production Designer
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom and Europe before they eventually returned to Teesside. Scott wanted to join the British Army (his elder brother Frank had already joined the Merchant Navy) but his father encouraged him to develop his artistic talents instead and so he went to West Hartlepool College of Art and then London's Royal College of Art where he helped found the film department.
In 1962, he joined the BBC as a trainee set designer working on several high profile series. He attended a trainee director's course while he was there and his first directing job was on an episode of the popular BBC police series Z Cars (1962), Error of Judgement (1965). More TV work followed until, frustrated by the poor financial rewards at the BBC, he went into advertising. With his younger brother, Tony Scott, he formed the advertising production company RSA (Ridley Scott Associates) in 1967 and spent the next 10 years making some of the best known and best loved TV adverts ever shown on British television, including a series of ads for Hovis bread set to the music of Dvorak's New World Symphony which are still talked about today ("'e were a great baker were our dad.")
He began working with producer David Puttnam in the 1970s developing ideas for feature films. Their first joint endeavor, The Duellists (1977) won the Jury Prize for Best First Work at Cannes in 1977 and was nominated for the Palm d'Or, more than successfully launching Scott's feature film career. The success of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) inspired Scott's interest in making science fiction and he accepted the offer to direct Dan O'Bannon's low budget science fiction horror movie Alien (1979), a critical and commercial success that firmly established his worldwide reputation as a movie director.
Blade Runner (1982) followed in 1982 to, at best, a lukewarm reception from public and critics but in the years that followed, its reputation grew - and Scott's with it - as one of the most important sci-fi movies ever made. Scott's next major project was back in the advertising world where he created another of the most talked-about advertising spots in broadcast history when his "1984"-inspired ad for the new Apple Macintosh computer was aired during the Super Bowl on January 22, 1984. Scott's movie career has seen a few flops (notably Legend (1985) and 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)), but with successes like Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000) and Black Hawk Down (2001) to offset them, his reputation remains solidly intact.
Ridley Scott was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire at the 2003 Queen's New Year Honours for his "substantial contribution to the British film industry". On July 3, 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Art in a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship in 2018. BAFTA described him as "a visionary director, one of the great British film-makers whose work has made an indelible mark on the history of cinema. Forty years since his directorial debut, his films continue to cross the boundaries of style and genre, engaging audiences and inspiring the next generation of film talent."- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actress
Paula Wagner has worked in the top ranks of the entertainment industry as a talent agent, film producer, and studio executive. She develops and produces film, theatre, and television projects through her production company Chestnut Ridge Productions (CRP).
Wagner began her career as an agent at Creative Artists Agency where she spent 15 years representing some of some of Hollywood's top actors, directors, and writers. In 1993 she began a new phase of her career as a producer when she launched Cruise/Wagner Productions with Tom Cruise, her former CAA client. For more than a decade, C/W produced critically acclaimed films with international appeal, including the Mission: Impossible franchise films I, II, and III, Without Limits, The Others, The Last Samurai, Vanilla Sky and Steven Spielberg's War Of The Worlds, which Wagner executive produced.
Wagner was co-owner and CEO of United Artists Entertainment from 2006 to 2008. During her tenure, UA released the Robert Redford political thriller Lions for Lambs and the World War II thriller Valkyrie.
Wagner's current film projects include Marshall (2016), starring Chadwick Boseman and Josh Gad and directed by Reggie Hudlin, based on a crucial case in the early career of U.S Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Also in development under the CRP banner is Sylvia Robinson: The Story of the Mother of Hip-Hop, which is being set up at Warner Bros., as well as the China/US co-production Moon Flower of the Flying Tigers, an epic WWII romantic drama based on a true story.
Wagner's producing credits for Broadway include TONY Award-nominated The Heiress starring Jessica Chastain & David Strathairn, Grace starring Paul Rudd & Michael Shannon and Terrence McNally's TONY Award-nominated play Mothers and Sons.
Wagner is a member of the PGA, the AMPAS, and the Broadway League. She serves on the boards for Film Forum in NY, the American Cinematheque, and the National Film Preservation Foundation. She travels the world as a visiting guest artist, and has lectured at Universities around the country, including the Harvard Business School and UCLA's School of Theatre, Film and Television. She is an adjunct faculty member and Lifetime Trustee of Carnegie Mellon University, her alma mater.
Wagner is married to Rick Nicita, CEO of management and production company RP Media. They have two sons, Zachary and Jesse.- Producer
- Director
- Actor
Tony Scott was a British-born film director and producer. He was the youngest of three brothers, one of whom is fellow film director Ridley Scott. He was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England to parents Jean and Colonel Francis Percy Scott. As a result of his father's career in the British military, his family moved around a lot. Their mother loved the going to the movies and instilled a love of cinema in her children. At age 16, Tony made his first appearance on screen as 'the boy' in his brother's directorial debut, the short film Boy and Bicycle (1965). In 1969, Tony directed his own short film One of the Missing (1969) about a soldier in the American civil war.
Tony had a talent for art and painting. He spent a year in Leeds College of Art and Design and went on to study for a fine arts degree at the School of Art at the University of Sunderland. He won a scholarship to study for his Masters of fine arts at the Royal College of Art. Following university, he spent several years as a painter. But life as a painter proved a struggle, so he decided to forge a different career path and partnered with Ridley in advertising at Ridley Scott Associates. It was there that he began shooting commercials. In 1971 he wrote, produced and directed Loving Memory however his vampire movie The Hunger (1983) starring Susan Sarandon, David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve wasn't a critical success but it attracted attention from Hollywood. He was asked by producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer to direct Top Gun (1986) starring Tom Cruise. He would work again with Cruise on another high adrenaline film Days of Thunder (1990), which proved less successful. He followed the success of Top Gun with the sequel Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) with Eddie Murphy, which was well received.
In 1993, he directed True Romance (1993), which was written by emerging director Quentin Tarantino. Scott had a lot of control over the film and received some great reviews.
Tony has worked five times with actor Denzel Washington with Crimson Tide (1995), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Deja Vu (2006), Man on Fire (2004) and Scott's final film in the director's chair Unstoppable (2010).
Tony Scott passed away at age 68 on August 19, 2012 in California, USA.- Producer
- Director
- Actor
A graduate of Wesleyan University, Michael Bay spent his 20s working on advertisements and music videos. His first projects after film school were in the music video business. He created music videos for Tina Turner, Meat Loaf, Lionel Richie, Wilson Phillips, Donny Osmond and Divinyls. His work won him recognition and a number of MTV award nominations. He also filmed advertisements for Nike, Reebok, Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Miller Lite. He won the Grand Prix Clio for Commercial of the Year for his "Got Milk/Aaron Burr" commercial. At Cannes, he has won the Gold Lion for The Best Beer campaign for Miller Lite, as well as the Silver for "Got Milk". In 1995, Bay was honored by the Directors Guild of America as Commercial Director of the Year. That same year, he also directed his first feature film, Bad Boys (1995), starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, which grossed more than $160 million, worldwide. His follow-up film, The Rock (1996), starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage, was also hugely successful, making Bay the director du jour.- Producer
- Writer
- Music Department
Avi Arad is an Israeli film producer and CEO of Marvel Entertainment. He produced dozens of Marvel films including the X-Men original trilogy, Daredevil, Hulk, Elektra, the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, Blade: Trinity, The Punisher, Ghost Rider and the Tim Story Fantastic Four film series. He now produces several Spider-Man films for Sony including Venom, Into the Spider-Verse and No Way Home.- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Stan Lee was an American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher, who was executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics.
Stan was born in New York City, to Celia (Solomon) and Jack Lieber, a dress cutter. His parents were Romanian Jewish immigrants. Lee co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor, the X-Men, and many other fictional characters, introducing a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. In addition, he challenged the comics' industry's censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, indirectly leading to it updating its policies. Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
He had cameo appearances in many Marvel film and television projects, with many yet to come, posthumously. A few of these appearances are self-aware and sometimes reference Lee's involvement in the creation of certain characters.
On 16 July 2017, Lee was named a Disney Legend, a hall of fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.
Stan was married to Joan Lee for almost 70 years, until her death. The couple had two children. Joan died on July 6, 2017. Stan died on November 12, 2018, in LA.- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Laura Ziskin was an American film producer and screenwriter who is known for producing the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy and The Amazing Spider-Man. She also produced Pretty Woman, What About Bob?, As Good as It Gets, Hero, Stealth, No Way Out, The Rescue and The Butler. She was married to Julian Barry and later Alvin Sargent. She passed away in 2011 due to breast cancer.- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Ian Bryce is known for Saving Private Ryan (1998), Almost Famous (2000) and Transformers (2007). He is married to Taylor Gilbert. They have two children.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actress
Dame Emma Thomas is an Academy Award Winner British film producer, known for co-producing films such as The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010) (2010), the Dark Knight trilogy (2005-2012), Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017) and Oppenheimer (2023). She frequently collaborates with her husband, filmmaker Christopher Nolan.
She has produced all of Nolan's films since 1997, with the exception of the short documentary film Quay (2015). Together they run the production company Syncopy Inc.
In July 2023, Christopher Nolan released his biographic drama 'Oppenheimer' co-produced by Thomas, that on top of grossing almost a Billion Dollars on the Worldwide Box office, also swept the 2023-2024 award-season and gave Thomas her first Oscar, BAFTA, Producers Guild, Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award as well as a handful of regional critics-circles awards.
Thomas also appeared in the film Following (1998).- Producer
- Production Manager
- Executive
Lorenzo di Bonaventura was born on 13 January 1957 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and production manager, known for Four Brothers (2005), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) and Transformers (2007).- Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
As flamboyant as any character in his movies, Joel Silver can be credited along with Jerry Bruckheimer as practically reinventing the action film genre in the 1980s. Born in New Jersey, he attended the New York University Film School. After college, he worked at Lawrence Gordon Pictures, earning his first onscreen credit as associate producer of The Warriors (1979). He eventually became president of the motion picture division of Gordon Pictures. Together with Gordon, Silver produced 48 Hrs. (1982) and Streets of Fire (1984). In 1983 he formed Silver Pictures and initially set up shop at Universal Pictures to produce Brewster's Millions (1985) before going to Fox and continued producing hit action films such as Commando (1985), the "Lethal Weapon" franchise, the first two films of the "Die Hard" franchise and the three films of "Matrix" franchise of action films. He had then subsequently joined Warner Bros. in 1987 after leaving Fox. Despite these successes, he has hit some rough spots and has been banned from working on several studio lots. He was unable to produce the "48 Hrs" sequel Another 48 Hrs. (1990), the third "Die Hard" film, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) and the fourth "Matrix" installment The Matrix Resurrections (2021) because of past run-ins with studio executives. Because of his habit of wearing sport shirts and talking loudly and quickly, he has been parodied in several films, even spoofing himself in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) by playing the frustrated cartoon director in the film's opening sequence. In order to perform in that role, he had to use an alias to get onto the Walt Disney lot, and his onscreen credit was not revealed to Disney executives until the very last minute. He had worked in television, setting up his own television branch with his first project Parker Kane (1990), a project that would eventually never made to series, and then worked at HBO for many years, until he found a home at Warner Bros. Television in 1998, where he had developed two UPN shows The Strip (1999) and Freedom (2000) before finding commercial success with the hit Veronica Mars (2004). In 1999, Silver Pictures had teamed up with film director/producer Robert Zemeckis to set up Dark Castle Entertainment to produce genre and horror films with the first film under Dark Castle being House on Haunted Hill (1999). Joel Silver pioneered the practice of shooting action movies in Australia with the "Matrix" films, and has been credited with either inventing or reinventing the careers of Eddie Murphy, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Steven Seagal. He was mentioned in Halle Berry's Academy Award acceptance speech. Other credits include non-action pictures, ranging from Xanadu (1980), Weird Science (1985) and Fred Claus (2007) to HBO's long-running TV series, Tales from the Crypt (1989). He had resigned from his founding production company in 2019.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Albert Romolo Broccoli was born in Astoria, Queens (New York City) on April 5th, 1909. His mother and father, Cristina and Giovanni Broccoli, raised young Albert in New York on the family farm. The family was in the vegetable business, and Albert claimed one of his uncles brought the first broccoli seeds into the United States in the 1870's. Albert's cousin Pat DiCicco gave him the nickname "Cubby" after a comic strip character named Kabibble. Cubby worked in a pharmacy and then as a coffin-maker, but a trip to see his cousin in Los Angeles gave him an ambition for film stardom. Pat was an actor's agent, and introduced Cubby to such stars as Randolph Scott, Cary Grant and Bob Hope.
In 1940, at the age of 31, Cubby married actress Gloria Blondell. That same year the head of 20th Century-Fox offered him an assistant director position on The Outlaw (1943), directed by Howard Hawks and produced by his good friend Howard Hughes. After this initial job opportunity Cubby became the top assistant director at Fox. He went on to serve as A.D. on such films as The Song of Bernadette (1943) and The Black Swan (1942). When World War II began, Cubby joined the U.S. Navy, where he met future film producer Ray Stark, and together they become heads of entertainment for the troops. Cubby and Gloria decided to end their marriage in 1945, but remained good friends. After the war Cubby determined to get back into the movie business.
In 1946 his cousin Pat worked out the financing for a project called Avalanche (1946), on which Cubby served as production manager. The film spawned a partnership between Cubby and director Irving Allen. Broccoli and Allen later formed Warwick Productions, which eventually became a very successful independent production company based in London, England. After the poor response to "Avalanche", however, Broccoli worked various odd jobs, including selling Christmas trees in California, and eventually took a job as a talent agent, where he represented, among others, Robert Wagner and Lana Turner.
In 1951 Cubby married Nedra Clark. That same year he left the talent agency and, together with his partner Allen, reformed Warwick to make Paratrooper (1953). The film, released in the US as "Paratrooper", was very profitable. Broccoli and Allen become the most successful independent producers in England, turning out such hits as Safari (1956), Zarak (1956) and The Bandit of Zhobe (1959). Cubby and Nedra wanted to start a family but, according to the doctor, Nedra was unable to become pregnant. They instead adopted a young baby boy named Tony. Shortly afterwards Nedra became pregnant after all, and gave birth to a girl, whom they named Tina. Unfortunately, Nedra died in New York shortly afterwards. Cubby was now a widower with two children to raise. He spent months trying to get new film projects off the ground and support his family.
Cubby met Dana Wilson at a New Year's Eve party and there was an instant attraction. The two fell in love and, after five weeks, Cubby proposed marriage. Dana flew to London and started a new life with Cubby. However, things were about to turn sour for him. After making The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), which was financed out of his and Allen's own pockets, the two went bankrupt due to the poor box-office returns because of adverse reaction to the subject matter--Oscar Wilde's homosexuality. The film wasn't allowed to be advertised in the US and never made back its production costs during initial release. Cubby and Allen ended their partnership after the failure of the film. On June 18, 1960, Dana gave birth to a baby girl, Barbara Broccoli. One night Dana asked Cubby if there was something he really wanted to do. Cubby replied. "I always wanted to film the Ian Fleming James Bond books."
Cubby then managed to meet with Harry Saltzman, the man who held the option to the books. Together they formed Eon Productions Ltd. and Danjaq S.A. to make the first James Bond film, Dr. No (1962). However, they needed financing. The two men flew to New York and met with Arthur Krim, the head of United Artists. Within the hour Broccoli and Saltzman had a deal to make the first 007 film adventure. Despite the small budget of $1 million, the producers insisted on filming on location in Jamaica and using the then virtually unknown Sean Connery in the title role. Bond became the most successful film series in history and made Cubby Broccoli a household name.
Together with Saltzman, Broccoli produced From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). After nine years as partners, Saltzman sold his share of Eon/Danjaq to United Artists and Cubby became the sole producer of the James Bond films. He later brought in his stepson, Michael G. Wilson, and his daughter Barbara, making it a true family affair. Broccoli's last non-Bond film was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). He had purchased the rights to this Ian Fleming story when he got the 007 book option. They brought in songwriters Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, who were under contract to Disney, to write the music for this musical.
In 1982 Broccoli received the Irving G. Thalberg Award for his long and successful producing career. The award was presented by Roger Moore at the Academy Awards ceremony. Broccoli stated that it was one of the happiest days of his life and was very pleased to have received such a great honor. He stopped during his speech to thank all of the hundreds of crew technicians and actors who have helped make his films possible. In 1990 he was honored by having his star placed on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and was even honored by the Queen of England for his contribution to cinema and the British community. Broccoli's last film was Licence to Kill (1989). He had heart problems throughout the early 1990s and was unable to go to the set of GoldenEye (1995).
Cubby's last years were spent at his home in Beverly Hills, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. Despite awards, honors and an amazing film career, the most important thing in his life was his family. After undergoing a triple-bypass in 1995, Cubby Broccoli passed away on Thursday, June 27, 1996, surrounded by loved ones. He was 87 and was one of the best-loved and most respected producers in Hollywood. No one ever had anything bad to say about Cubby and, according to many, he was a gentleman who cared about every one of his cast and crew and was the last true film producer. Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli's legacy lives on thanks to his family, which carries on the tradition of making the James Bond films.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
An engineer turned tax lawyer he joined Eon Productions in 1972 as a tax lawyer then was a very junior assistant on Goldfinger, did some work on The Spy Who Loved Me before becoming executive producer on Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only and Octopussy. He was then co producer on A View to a Kill. Living Daylights ,and Licence to Kill. Cubby Brocolli made him his assistant on The Spy Who Loved Me- Producer
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Neal H. Moritz is an American film and television producer who was born on June 6, 1959. After graduating from college at Westwood, he earned a master's degree in 1985, which led to a startup of his own production company Neal Moritz Productions. He had a production deal with Paramount Pictures. The first movie he produced is Framed (1990)
In 1990, Moritz partnered with ex-United Artists employee David Heyman to start out Moritz-Heyman Productions. The two men have collaborated on films Juice (1992), The Stöned Age (1994) and Blind Justice (1994). Additionally, it partnered with commercial producer Bruce Mellon to start out Original Film in 1993, to produce commercials and music videos. After Heyman left, he signed a production deal with Columbia Pictures in 1996, after a brief deal with 20th Century Fox expired.
Through his Original Film company, he produced two films in 1997, the disaster film Volcano (1997) and the slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). The success of the latter saw him producing a sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), as well as various slashers like Urban Legend (1998) and Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), as well as Soul Survivors (2001).
In 1998, he produced the TV movie The Rat Pack (1998) for HBO, which marked for the first time seeing him working with director Rob Cohen. On the same year, his Original Film company signed a deal with Newmarket Capital Group to produce lower budget films. Through his deal with Newmarket, he oversaw the teen fins Cruel Intentions (1999) and The Skulls (2000), both of them received two direct-to-video sequels. In 1999, his first foray on TV was the show Shasta McNasty (1999), and at the same time he made its foray onto the comedy market with the films Blue Streak (1999) and Held Up (1999).
In 2001, after years of making teen films, he made its first foray by producing the action film The Fast and the Furious (2001), which marked the first time he ever met him with star Vin Diesel. The success of the film spawned many sequels and many imitators like xXx (2002), S.W.A.T. (2003) and Torque (2004). In 2002, he partnered with agent Marty Adelstein in launching the management company Original, and they spawned a division Original Television, of which signed a deal with 20th Century Fox Television. His venture produced Tru Calling (2003), Point Pleasant (2005) and the most successful of all time, Prison Break (2005) and it went defunct in 2004.
He continued making films from the time period, including Stealth (2005), Gridiron Gang (2006), Click (2006) (with friend and rival Columbia affiliated producer Adam Sandler), I Am Legend (2007), Vantage Point (2008), The Bounty Hunter (2010) and The Green Hornet (2011) (with friend and the up and coming team of writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg), while working on "Fast & Furious" sequels. In 2006, Original Film reactivated TV production by signing a deal with Sony Pictures Television, and the following year he made its first foray onto family films, Evan Almighty (2007). In 2012, he worked with MGM and Columbia on 21 Jump Street (2012) and it's sequel 22 Jump Street (2014).
His TV work with Sony Pictures Television included the shows The Big C (2010) and Save Me (2013). In 2015, he produced the most successful family film of all time, Goosebumps (2015) with Sony Pictures Animation, which was followed up in 2018 by Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018). On the same year, he acquired the rights to Valiant Comics, resulting in the creation of Bloodshot (2020). In 2017, Moritz signed a film production deal with Paramount Pictures (which Moritz worked with it back in the 1980s). His first film with Paramount was Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). He continued to produce TV shows for Sony, like Preacher (2016), S.W.A.T. (2017) and The Boys (2019), and for Universal, the show Happy! (2017).
He was currently in post-production on the film F9: The Fast Saga (2021), which is scheduled for release on Memorial Day 2021, which changed from release dates many times during the COVID-19 pandemic.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Roland Emmerich is a German film director and producer of blockbuster films like The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). Before fame, he originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching the original Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Emmerich began his career in his native Germany. In his youth, he pursued painting and sculpting. While enrolled in the director's program at film school in Munich, his student film The Noah's Ark Principle (1984) went on to open the 1984 Berlin Film Festival. The feature became a huge success and was sold to more than 20 countries. In an amazing trivia, he directed his first feature, The Noah's Ark Principle (1984), in 1984. He is openly gay and a campaigner for the LGBT community.
A director/writer/producer with a flair for special effects-driven action, German Roland Emmerich made himself at home in blockbuster-hungry 1990s Hollywood. Born and educated in West Germany, Emmerich studied production design as well as direction at the Munich Film and Television School. After his student film, The Noah's Ark Principle, debuted at the 1984 Berlin Film Festival, Emmerich formed his production company Centropolis and directed supernatural fantasies Making Contact (1986) and Ghost Chase (1987), and the straight-to-video action film Moon 44 (1990). On the latter, he met actor Dean Devlin who subsequently switched jobs to become Emmerich's writing and producing partner once Emmerich set up shop in Hollywood.
After making his solo Hollywood debut directing Jean-Claude Van Damme in the cyborg action fest Universal Soldier (1992), Emmerich and Devlin revealed a talent for conjuring A-level action spectacles out of B-movie scenarios with their first film together, Stargate (1994). A space odyssey mixing ancient Egyptiana and high-tech wizardry, Stargate became an unexpected hit. Emmerich hit his blockbuster stride with his next film, Independence Day (1996). With its eye-popping destruction of major cities and climactic annihilation of a spacecraft via portable computer, Independence Day blew away its summer movie competition on the strength of its visual flash. Geared to repeat with the endlessly- and creatively-hyped version of Godzilla (1998), Emmerich instead faced the conundrum of directing a $100 million grossing film that did not live up to box office expectations. Emmerich and Devlin next turned their epic visions to the decidedly lower-tech (but still CGI-enhanced) action of the American Revolution in the Mel Gibson summer vehicle The Patriot (2000).- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Mr. Simpson was an extravagant movie producer whose blockbusters Flashdance (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), and Top Gun (1986) helped define the pop culture of the 1980s. Mr. Simpson teamed with Jerry Bruckheimer in 1983 to produce these hits. In 1985 and 1988, the duo were named producers of the year by the National Association of Theater Owners. In 1991, their films had generated more than $2 billion in sales from theater tickets, videocassettes and record albums. Mr. Simpson also received 10 Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe Awards, and two People's Choice best picture awards. The soundtracks from his pictures have received 18 Grammy nominations. Mr. Simpson worked at Paramount Pictures from 1975 through 1991, leaving to join Walt Disney Studios.
In the summer of 1995, his personal physician, Dr. Stephen W. Ammerman, was found dead from a multiple drug overdose in the pool house on Mr. Simpson's estate. Simpson himself died of heart failure the following year, and the coroner's report lists his death as a result of natural causes.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Irwin Winkler's career as a producer, director and writer encompasses popular and influential movies that have impacted contemporary culture. With a passion for big, bold, meaningful stories, his films include an array of true screen classics, garnering among them 12 Academy Awards and 52 Oscar nominations.
Among Winkler's multiple nominations include five Best Picture nominations, each for a pioneering film: the tale of underdog sports triumph, Rocky, which forged one of most globally recognizable movie characters and themes in history; Raging Bull, which turned the biopic into a gritty, lyrical work of art; the history-capturing look at the U.S. space program, The Right Stuff; the iconic gangster tale, Goodfellas; and the recent The Wolf of Wall Street. Winkler is the only producer honored with three films on the American Film Institute's list of the "Top 100 Films."
Winkler was recently honored by the Producers Guild of America with the prestigious David O. Selznick Achievement Award which recognized his lifetime body of work.
In April 2016, Winkler spoke at Harvard University's Kennedy School on the political and social influence his films have had on both the U.S. and international culture.
In December 2016 The American Cinematheque held a three-day retrospective to honor Winkler by showcasing such works as Goodfellas, New York, New York and Raging Bull, culminating with an onstage conversation alongside Martin Scorsese to discuss Winkler's storied career.
Winkler most recently produced the critically acclaimed Silence with longtime collaborator Martin Scorsese, written by Jay Cocks and starring Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.
In 2016 Winkler produced Creed, the latest installment of his Academy Award winning franchise, Rocky Starring Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan, with Ryan Coogler directing, the film garnered both commercial and critical success; earning a Golden Globe nomination and Academy Award nomination for Sylvester Stallone. The film was named Outstanding Motion Picture from the NAACP Image Awards, the Black Film Critics Circle and named as one of the top films by the National Board of Review.
In 2013, Winkler Executive Produced the Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, illustrates his continual presence as one of Hollywood's most prolific producers making an indelible impact with his ability to showcase emotional storytelling with hard hitting relevance.
For Winkler, success has come from his constant instinctual draw to fresh, current, even controversial subjects and visionary talents. As a storyteller he has been fascinated by both the dangers of corruption and the beauty of courage and compassion.
Winkler first made a resounding impact producing a series of raw, edgy human dramas that helped to define the gritty landscape of 70s and 80s cinema. Thus the the fiercely original They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, about the desperate contenders in a Depression-era dance contest, starring Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin, which would seal Winkler's reputation with 9 Academy Award nominations and status as a Hollywood classic.
Other highlights from this period include New York, New York, starring Liza Minnelli and Robert De Niro, which produced one of the most recognizable songs in pop culture; the enduring masterpiece, Raging Bull, considered by many to be among the great cinematic works of the 20th Century and highlighted by DeNiro's Oscar winning performance; and Goodfellas, which was honored with numerous critics' awards and has become etched in filmgoers' consciousnesses as the paragon of the American crime drama.
In that era, Winkler also produced the Mafia comedy Jimmy Brolin's The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight starring Bob DeNiro ; Up The Sandbox a look at the women's movement starring Barbra Streisand; The Gambler a penetrating look at gambling addiction, starring James Caan; the stirring modern Western, Comes A Horseman teaming Caan with Jane Fonda, directed by Alan Pakula; True Confessions written by Joan Didion and John Dunne starring Robert DeNiro and Robert Duvall; the critically-acclaimed suspense thriller about a woman who discovers her father is an accused Nazi war criminal, Music Box, which earned an Oscar nomination for star Jessica Lange and the homage to the Jazz Era, Round Midnight, with Herbie Hancock winning an Academy Award for his musical composition and a Best Actor nomination for Dexter Gordon.
In 1989, Winkler made his directorial debut from his own screenplay, Guilty By Suspicion, hailed by the New York Times as "A stirring and tragic evocation of terrible times" about Hollywood's all-too-real blacklisting era. Starring Robert DeNiro as a prominent director asked to "name names" and Annette Bening as his wife, the film presaged a writing and directing career that would, like Winkler's producing career, be focused on taut human drama and politically-charged themes and nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Winkler's next directorial outing reunited him with both Robert DeNiro and Jessica Lange in the noir crime drama, Night and the City, which would close the prestigious New York Film Festival in 1992 and become a rousing critical success. He went on to direct and produce At First Sight, a romantic drama based on a true story by Dr. Oliver Sacks, starring Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino and Nathan Lane and the prescient cyber-crime thriller The Net, starring Sandra Bullock, one of the big box-office hits of 1995.
Winkler's directorial career would continue to take intriguing turns. He broached the thought-provoking question of what happens when a man suddenly faces his own mortality in the poignantly complex Life as a House, featuring a landmark performance by Kevin Kline.
Radically switching gears, Winkler next directed one of his most distinctive features, the musical biography of the legendary composer Cole Porter: De-Lovely. Featuring Golden Globe-nominated performances from Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, as well as performances from pop and rock music talents, including Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Elvis Costello, Robbie Williams, Natalie Cole, and Diana Krall, all performing Porter's classic songs, the film was selected as the closing night gala event at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.
Winkler became one of the very first American filmmakers to turn his camera on the return of U.S. veterans from the war in Iraq - when he directed and produced the provocative drama Home of the Brave, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Jessica Biel and Brian Presley.
Winker's motion picture producing career began in the late 1960s when he produced his first film, the Elvis Presley movie Double Trouble, with the legendary director Norman Taurog. Soon after, he entered into a partnership with Robert Chartoff, producing such films as the classic revenge thriller Point Blank. In 1970, an eclectic trio of Winkler/Chartoff films each made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival: Leo the Last won the Best Director prize, the counter-culture cult film, The Strawberry Statement received the Jury Award They Shoot Horses, Don't They? garnered the closing night honors.
For his contributions to the popular culture, Winkler has been the recipient of numerous American and international honors, including the Commandeur des Arts et Lettres, the French government's highest decoration for contribution to the arts. In 1989, the British Film Institute saluted him with a retrospective of his work and in 1995, Winkler became the first producer to be honored with a showcase screening of ten of his films at the Deauville Film Festival. He has also received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Chicago Film Festival, a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame and retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which had not honored a producer since their tribute to David O. Selznick in 1980. Winkler also received the National Board of Review's highest honor for Career Achievement in Producing, which Kevin Kline presented to him at their annual gala in January 2007 in New York. Winkler was a Governor of the New York City Ballet and is on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his own short films. At the age of 21, del Toro executive produced his first feature, Dona Herlinda and Her Son (1985). Del Toro spent almost 10 years as a makeup supervisor, and formed his own company, Necropia in the early 1980s. He also produced and directed Mexican television programs at this time, and taught film.
Del Toro got his first big break when Cronos (1992) won nine Ariel Awards (the Mexican equivalent of the Oscars), then went on to win the International Critics Week Prize at Cannes. Following this success, del Toro made his first Hollywood film, Mimic (1997), starring Mira Sorvino.
Del Toro had some unfortunate experiences working with a demanding Hollywood studio on Mimic (1997), and returned to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang.
Next for del Toro, was The Devil's Backbone (2001), a Spanish Civil War ghost story. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike, and del Toro decided to give Hollywood another try. In 2002, he directed the Wesley Snipes vampire sequel, Blade II (2002).
On a roll, Del Toro followed up Blade II (2002) with another successful comic-book inspired film, Hellboy (2004), starring one of Del Toro's favorite actors, Ron Perlman.
Del Toro is divorced, has a daughter and a son and lives in Los Angeles and Toronto.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Emmy and Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer has been making movies and television programs for more than 25 years. As both a writer and producer, he has been personally nominated for four Academy Awards, and in 2002 won the Best Picture Oscar for A Beautiful Mind (2001). In addition to winning three other Academy Awards, "A Beautiful Mind" also won four Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture Drama) and earned Grazer the first annual Awareness Award from the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign.
Over the years, Grazer's films and TV shows have been nominated for 43 Oscars and 198 Emmys. At the same time his movies have generated more than $15 billion in worldwide theatrical, music and video grosses. Reflecting this combination of commercial and artistic achievement, the Producers Guild of America honored Grazer with the David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. His accomplishments have also been recognized by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which in 1998 added Grazer to the short list of producers with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On March 6, 2003. ShoWest celebrated Grazer's success by honoring him with its Lifetime Achievement Award. On November 14, 2005, Grazer was honored in Los Angeles by the Fulfillment Fund. In May 2007 he was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." On January 24 Grazer, along with his partner Ron Howard, was honored with the Milestone Award by the Producers Guild of America.
In addition to "A Beautiful Mind", Grazer's films include Apollo 13 (1995), for which Grazer won the Producers Guild's Darryl F. Zanuck Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Picture of 1995; and Splash (1983), which he co-wrote as well as produced and for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay of 1986.
Grazer also produced the film adaptation of Peter Morgan's critically acclaimed play "Frost/Nixon" (Frost/Nixon (2008)), directed by Ron Howard. The film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and was also nominated for The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures by the PGA.
Grazer also produced Angels & Demons (2009), the adaptation of Dan Brown's bast-selling novel, and Robin Hood (2010), directed by Ridley Scott and with Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Max von Sydow.
Some more of Grazer's feature film credits include the drama The Changeling (2006), directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie; the Ridley Scott-directed drama American Gangster (2007), staring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington; The Da Vinci Code (2006), the film adaptation of Dan Brown's international best-seller, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Oscar-winner Ron Howard; the tense drama The Inside Man (2005), directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster; Flightplan (2005); Cinderella Man (2005); the Sundance acclaimed documentary Inside Deep Throat (2005); the TV series Friday Night Lights (2006); 8 Mile (2002); Blue Crush (2002); Intolerable Cruelty (2003); How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000); The Nutty Professor (1996); Liar Liar (1997); Ransom (1996); My Girl (1991); Backdraft (1991); Kindergarten Cop (1990); Parenthood (1989); Clean and Sober (1988); and Spies Like Us (1985).
Grazer's television productions include Fox's hit Golden Globe and Emmy award winning Best Drama Series 24 (2001), NBC's Peabody Award-winning series "Friday Night Lights" and Fox's Lie to Me (2009), starring Tim Roth, which premiered in January 2009. He is also working on additional television projects including Parenthood (2010), based on his 1989 film, and Wonderland (2000), directed by Peter Berg. His additional television credits include Fox's Emmy award winning-Best Comedy Arrested Development (2003), CBS' Shark (2006), NBC's Miss Match (2003), WB's Felicity (1998), ABC's Sports Night (1998), as well as HBO's From the Earth to the Moon (1998), for which he won the Emmy for Outstanding Mini-Series.
Grazer began his career as a producer, developing television projects. It was while he was executive-producing TV pilots for Paramount Pictures in the early 1980s that Grazer first met Ron Howard, soon to become his friend and business partner. Their collaboration began in 1985 with the hit comedies Night Shift (1982) and Splash (1983), and in 1986 the two founded Imagine Entertainment, which they continue to run together as chairmen.